OFF THE TICKER

A World Where Car Fan Is a Must

BALTIMORE — Environmental apocalypse and Cadillacs that run on dinosaur guano are fresh fodder for comic book creators in search of new readers.

Publishers who want to attract older, better-educated readers are tackling social issues, according to those at a retailers' seminar staged by Diamond Comic Distributors.

"They're not satisfied just with Superman beating the heck out of a villain," said Greg Loescher, who publishes the Comics Buyers Guide, an industry newspaper.

Mark Schultz's "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" depicts a world after an environmental catastrophe caused by depletion of the ozone layer. Dinosaurs have re-emerged, and one of the few surviving inventions of man are vintage Cadillacs. "They now have new engines that run on dinosaur guano," Schultz said.